A boat carrying as many as 700 migrants has capsized in the Mediterranean Sea, prompting a major search operation.

The Maltese prime minister said ‘many’ migrants were feared to have died, reports itv.com.

Twenty-eight people have been rescued after the incident, which occurred around 120 miles off Lampedusa, the Times of Malta said.

The migrants are believed to have fallen overboard just after midnight when the group moved to one side of the vessel as a merchant ship approached.

The reported incident comes just days after 400 migrants are feared to have drowned in the Mediterranean.

Passing ship

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that many people were feared dead.

Italian ships, the Maltese Navy and commercial vessels are all involved in the rescue operation in Libyan waters, reports the BBC.

The Times of Malta newspaper reported that the migrants fell overboard when they rushed to draw the attention of a passing merchant ship.

The Italian coastguard's spokesman said the fishing boat capsized about 130 miles (210km) off the coast of Lampedusa and 17 miles (27km) from the Libyan coast.

‘At the moment, this is still a search and rescue operation, but in time it will be a search [for bodies] only,’ the spokesman said, reported the BBC.

Twenty ships and three helicopters were currently involved in the rescue, he added.